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Feb. 18, 2026 19:04-20:04 - CSPAN
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UAW Members' Questions 00:06:00
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Next, a debate with three Democrats running in Michigan Senate race, Representative Haley Stevens, Dr. Abdul El-Syed, and State Senator Mallory McMorrow, hosted by the United Auto Workers Union at a political conference in Washington, D.C.
They talk about social security, affordability, workers' rights, and artificial intelligence.
Good morning.
How's everybody doing today?
All right.
My name is Arreus III, and I am proud to serve as the Michigan CAP director.
As you all know, Michigan is home to 134 locals spread across three mighty regions.
Region 1, Region 1A, and Region 1D.
All right, people in the House.
We have over 350 active members and retirees and hundreds of thousands more UAW family members.
Welcome to the candidates.
Thank you for being here.
It matters to us who shows up and who does not.
We take notice.
It's a special honor for me to be moderating today on White Shirt Day as somebody who is fourth-generation UAW and fourth-generation Flint.
As we heard this morning, White Shirt Day honors the victorious Flint sit-down strike, which in many ways birthed this union and the middle class in America.
A ragtag group of auto workers in Flint seized the means of production, took on the largest corporation in the world at the time, General Motors, and won this union.
It was, yeah, please, let's give it up to the sit-down strikers, women's emergency brigade members.
It was the many against the powerful few, and they proved that solidarity could triumph over greed.
We find ourselves in another historic crossroads where so many are asking the question, can working class people prevail over the rich and powerful?
This question is why we ask candidates for the U.S. Senate from Michigan to join us today, because a U.S. Senator from Michigan must be clear that they serve the working class.
This forum is not part of the official endorsement process, which is held by the Michigan Cap General Board, an elected board of UAW members and leaders.
The Michigan CAP General Board made the decision very recently to enshrine forums for the offices of U.S. Senate and Governor viewable to all members who reside in a state into our bylaws.
So we're live streaming this forum so UAW members back home can tune in and are tuning in right now.
This forum is for UAW members to learn where candidates stand on issues that matter to us.
UAW members for the last few weeks have been submitting questions that will guide this forum.
We got dozens and dozens of questions from the three regions in Michigan, but also from folks across the country.
Because as folks know with the UAW's presence in Michigan, a senator from Michigan represents the UAW.
They represent the working class and they represent our membership.
I'm going to describe what the forum is going to look like and a bit about the ground rules.
So each candidate will be given 90 seconds for an opening statement.
This will be followed by questions from members, some in this room, others who are not here that I will read aloud.
Candidates will have 60 seconds to respond to the question.
At the conclusion of member questions, each candidates will have 90 seconds for a closing statement.
So candidates, here are the ground rules.
Please stick to the allotted time for questions.
Our timekeepers right here, Gina Liberty and Helen Walker, have signs there.
They're seated right in front of you.
And they will give you a 30-second warning that Gina can show you right now and a stop sign.
If folks continue, I will interrupt and say time if you continue to speak.
Our members are eager to hear about your plans as a Senate candidate.
We ask that you refrain from any personal attacks, though drawing contrast in a respectful manner will of course be allowed.
There will not be separately allocated time for rebuttals, so if you wish to respond to something another candidate said, you must do so within your allotted time on the next question.
All candidates will have equal speaking time, and all candidates will have the same questions.
The speaking order has been randomly chosen earlier.
Running for U.S. Senate 00:04:35
I had Mike Wuerta spin the wheel for us this morning right before he spoke.
So thank you for that, Mike.
So if you speak first for opening remarks, you will speak second for the first question, third for the next, and first again for the following.
I'll remind folks as we go.
But we will begin with a 90-second opening remark in the following order.
So we will be starting with Abdul El-Sayed, followed by Haley Stevens, followed by Mallard McMorrow.
I'm going to turn it over to Abdul who have 90 seconds for an opening statement.
Good morning, UAW.
Good morning.
Happy White Shirt Day.
To President Fane, directors DePauli in English, Brother Art, who actually looks like my brother.
I am so grateful to be here with you today.
My name is Abdul El-Sayed.
I am running for U.S. Senate because I've got a name that's tailor-made for U.S. politics.
But actually, it just shouldn't be this hard.
Shouldn't be this hard to work one good job and know you can take care of your family.
Shouldn't be this hard to know that the factory you worked in for 20 years is going to be there for the next 20.
Shouldn't be this hard to take your kid to a dentist or go see a doctor.
It just shouldn't be this hard.
Now look, I was never supposed to run for office.
I became a doctor because I knew I could go just 15 minutes in Michigan and travel 10 years' difference in life expectancy.
Got to rebuild Detroit's health department, lead Wayne County's Department of Health, Human and Veteran Services.
We put glasses on kids' faces, took on some of the biggest corporate polluters, made sure that when we found out we ranked number eight for medical debt nationwide, that we were able to take it down, eliminating all of it.
I'm running to do three simple things.
Get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, past Medicare for all.
Because let's be clear.
Donald Trump, Donald Trump himself is not the disease of our politics.
He's just the worst symptom.
The disease is the system that allows big corporations to buy and sell politicians in ways that leave them rigging the system against us.
And until we are ready to play to win and not just not to lose, we will not be able to take them on.
That is what this campaign is about.
I look forward to walking that path with you.
Thank you so much.
Okay, we're now going to hear from Haley Stevens.
Well, good morning, UAW CAP Conference.
My name is Haley Stevens, and I am running to be Michigan's next United States Senator.
I'll tell you, it was a thing of beauty seeing you all walk the halls of Congress yesterday.
And congratulations on your triumph in Tennessee.
What you did in terms of organizing is exactly what is motivating my run for Congress to fight for organized labor, for our 21st-century labor movement, for earned benefits, your wages.
And that's what I've done my entire career in the Obama administration, working on the auto rescue, now pushing back on this Trump administration and the chaos that is coming down.
We need a champion.
We need someone who's not only going to fight, but win.
And that is what I've done, being recognized as the most effective Democrat in the Congress for Michigan.
Look, Donald Trump and Mike Rogers, they're not going to keep us down.
We're going to build a 21st-century manufacturing hub in Michigan, run by organized labor.
We're going to make it in Michigan, by Michigan, and for Michigan.
Thank you all so very much.
Mallory.
Good morning, UAW.
Michigan members, let me hear you.
There we go.
I'm Mallory McMorrow, and I am a state senator in Michigan, currently the state senate majority whip, running to fight alongside you as your next United States Senator.
Now, I grew up with one very simple dream.
I wanted to design cars.
I love cars.
I love the feel of the keys in my hand.
I love the feel of my hand on the steering wheel.
And I actually had that opportunity.
I have been working since I was 12 years old.
I saved every dollar that I could.
And I went to college to get a degree in industrial design.
I actually had the chance to build a concept car live on stage at an auto show, and in any normal time, that would have set me up for success.
Voting Rights and Prescription Drugs 00:15:09
But I graduated in 2008, and I came out the other side with no job, no health insurance, thousands of dollars in student loan debt, nowhere to live.
I applied to 300 jobs, and the only job that I could get for so long was folding clothes for minimum wage.
President Fane said the other day, we need working-class people to solve working-class problems.
And there are too many people who hold office who do not know the lived experience of what it is like to struggle.
I Googled how to run for office in the wake of the 2016 election when this orange menace took over the White House.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
All right, we're gonna get to questions.
I'm gonna ask two questions first before we get to our members who are here in the audience that were submitted from folks who are not currently here.
So, to start, I'm gonna ask a question from Sharon Parker from local 1264.
We've got a lot of 1264 folks here.
This is Sharon's question.
And Haley, we'll start on this one.
Sharon says, we must protect our voting rights.
What will you do to protect the right to vote and fight against the federal takeover of our elections?
Well, Sharon's absolutely right.
Our freedoms and our democracy are under attack because of an administration that is out of control.
They are abusing power.
During my four terms in the United States House of Representatives, every chance I could get, I signed on to the Voting Rights Act.
Every chance I could get, I was fighting for your voting rights.
And I'm not just talking about it, I'm doing something about it.
And we need a United States Senator who is going to hit the ground running for reforms, for the bills that need to take place, and for your rights.
Mallory.
Look, it is not an accident that the President of the United States said that Republicans should nationalize elections.
And he called out Detroit specifically.
I have constituents who live in Detroit who received robo calls that said, don't forget to vote on Thursday in the last election.
We need a U.S. Senator who has delivered on protecting your voting rights.
As a member of the Elections and Ethics Committee in the state Senate, we guaranteed nine days of early voting, no reason absentee voting, so every Michigander can vote by mail with guaranteed paid postage, a Dropbox for every 15,000 residents.
And when I get to the U.S. Senate, we will pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to ensure your rights are protected and that your vote counts.
Democracy is not a noun, it's a verb.
It's a thing that we do.
It's a thing that we have to keep showing up for.
Now, a couple weeks ago, I went to Minneapolis and I wanted to see what it looks like when our taxpayer dollars get used to weaponize a paramilitary force on the streets.
My colleague just talked about how Donald Trump is talking about nationalizing elections.
How do you think he's going to do that?
When you look at ICE on our streets, what do you think they're setting up for?
So I've come out and said that we have to abolish ICE.
It is not enough.
It is not enough for us to continue to step by and think that this is about immigration enforcement.
It is not.
It's about normalizing paramilitary force to take away our rights.
So we got to get through this election and then we've got to get to the work of passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Thank you.
Our next question, read one more before I kick it to some members in the audience, but this is coming from Eric Price from Local 651 in Flint, Michigan.
Eric says, corporations are flooding money into our politics like never before.
At a time when we have more economic inequality than we've ever faced, do you accept corporate PAC money?
Why or why not?
And this one is beginning with Mallory.
No, I do not accept corporate PAC dollars on this campaign at all.
Zero dollars.
And we need to go farther than that.
We need to codify that into law.
We need to get dark money out of our politics.
We need to overturn.
We need to overturn Citizens United.
We need to put power back in the hands of voters.
We need to ban congressional stock trading so you know when your next senator goes to Washington, they are fighting for you, not their donors.
We have to do that and so much more.
I'm the only person on the stage who's never accepted a dime of corporate PAC money and never will.
When we all ran in 2018, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, DTE, they were spending against me and spending for the two colleagues I have on this stage.
So when I show up and I tell you that I want to ban corporate money in politics, I'm talking about banning corporate money and politics.
Not this game that too many politicians play and tell you that they're working for the working class but too often serving two masters.
I have never asked for their money.
I will never ask for their money because I understand that the central feature of the corruption of our politics has been the role that corporations have played to buy and sell politicians for far too long.
So a but so if that's not what motivates you in our politics, you don't understand that that's the reason our health care is too expensive and you're not winning a winner getting a winner a workable wage, then at the end of the day, I wonder what decision you'll make the next time you run.
And for me, this is sacrosanct.
There's someone who's not on this stage, and his name is Mike Rogers, and he wants to rubber stamp Donald Trump.
In the House of Representatives, I have voted for comprehensive campaign finance reform.
We need to end Citizens United and we need a senator who's not going to block that legislation.
Look, friends, I'm not a millionaire and I don't own stock.
I'm running my campaign in a grassroots way where 95% of my donations are $200 or less.
They're coming from grocery clerk workers, nurses, folks on the factory line.
I cannot be bought.
I'm standing up.
I'm fighting for labor and I'm delivering for Michigan jobs.
Thank you.
Now, as I mentioned, we've had members submitting dozens and dozens of questions, and we have a set of folks whose questions were selected for today.
We're going to begin with Alicia Ivey from Local 163.
Good morning.
With pensions disappearing and almost half of older workers lacking retirement savings, we're also seeing policies that undermine Social Security and push it towards privatization.
If you're elected to the Senate, do you believe every worker deserves a defined benefit pension?
And what concrete actions would you take to protect Social Security and expand real pension options for working families?
Thank you, Alicia, for your question.
When we talk about one good job being enough, it's not just while you're working it.
That job should be able to provide you a dignified retirement thereafter.
And for too long, we have watched as corporations have figured out how to give us less, both while we're working our jobs and then after that job ends.
I believe in lifting the cap on Social Security.
I believe in empowering defined benefits, pensions, so that you know exactly what you're going to get.
And by the way, those pensions shouldn't just stay flat.
They should adjust for inflation.
And then finally, let's be clear: Medicare needs to be better.
The idea that Medicare doesn't fund vision, dental, and hearing for seniors.
By the way, I'm a doctor.
I tell you, they need all three.
The idea that that hasn't been addressed and that you have to pay a premium out of your Social Security, that needs to end.
So I want to make Medicare whole.
I want to make it premium and copay and deductible free.
And I want to expand it for everybody.
Haley.
Let's be clear.
Donald Trump doesn't give a whip if you're living off a Social Security check.
He doesn't give a whip if you're working your whole life for that pension that maybe goes away.
We need somebody who's going to stand up for your earned benefits.
When I worked on the U.S. autorescue in the administration of Barack Obama, I saw the beauty of this union firsthand negotiating and fighting and earning and winning the benefits that were owed and deserved.
We need someone who has the back of labor.
We also need someone like what I've co-sponsored in the House that's going to fix Social Security.
Yes, get rid of the caps.
Yes, make it solvent.
Yes, make sure that pensions are protected, which means we've got a fully funded pension benefit guarantee corporation.
I saw that firsthand during the Great Recession.
I fought alongside you guys, and I'm prepared to do it again.
Mallory.
Thank you.
Before I start, I want to point out that one of the candidates on this stage refused to answer the question about corporate PACs.
And as we talk about our retirement, we need to know who our next senator is working for.
Now, just today, back home in the state Senate, I introduced what I'm calling the No Reverse Robin Hood Act.
What that says is that if a company is receiving your taxpayer dollars in an incentive, they are prohibited from conducting stock buybacks.
Your money should go back into your retirement.
I saw the CAP conference presentation here that shows that stock buybacks alone could fund child care, paid leave, retirement, and worker wage increases.
Let's make sure that your taxpayer dollars are going back to you, to your children and your grandchildren, not going into the pockets of shareholders.
Thank you.
Next, we're going to hear from Brandon Stever from Local 1853.
All right.
Good morning.
Thank all three of you for showing up and actually listening to us this morning.
My question is about health care.
Last week, I picked up a prescription drug from the pharmacy that I have to take daily.
That drug was $1,800 for a 90-day supply.
Thankfully, most of us in this room have good union-negotiated benefits.
I only paid $17 out of pocket for that prescription.
What do you guys plan on doing to make sure that that is a right for everyone, not just organized labor, but health care and prescription drugs affordable for everyone in this country?
Thank you.
This will begin with Haley.
Brandon, thank you for that important question.
I'm going to tell you right now that your affordable prescription drug is under attack.
We got a president who's trying to cut the Affordable Care Act.
We've seen them go right after Medicaid.
We need to expand the ACA.
We need to enshrine into law that we have affordable prescription drugs negotiated by Medicare.
This is something that we can do in a Democratic majority.
These are bills that I have written alongside you.
And look, what's Mike Rogers going to do?
He doesn't believe in everybody having access to affordable quality health care.
He's just going to go forward, rubber stamp Donald Trump, and sell out your earned benefit.
Mallory.
Look, if you develop prescription drugs in this country, it should be a requirement that citizens of the United States of America receive the lowest drug costs.
Not that we export the drugs that we develop here in this country for other countries to pay a lower price.
We also have to ensure that Medicare can negotiate drug prices again.
This president came in railing against the elites.
Now, who is he benefiting?
The elites that he claims to stand against.
We have to make sure that the federal government can negotiate for the lowest drug prices, that we put a prescription drug affordability board in place to make sure you are not paying $1,800 a month for that prescription drug.
We need to expand access to generics to increase competition on the marketplace so that we do not support drug companies.
We support you getting the prescriptions that you need.
Abdul.
Look, y'all, the answer to this is easy.
Medicare for all.
And because I've never taken a dime from Blue Cross, Blue Shield, or HAP, or whatever else, private insurance, I'm the only one up here who will say it.
I think you deserve better than politicians who will tell you what you cannot have and what you should not fight for.
Because look, I actually sat on President Biden's task force that helped to write his prescription drug negotiation bill.
And that was good policy, but like 10 drugs a year, why can't we negotiate for all the drugs every year?
This is not hard.
And I just want to tell you, I'm also the only one up here who's ever had to sit in a hospital room with a patient and talk about whether or not we actually could get them the medication every other doctor in that room knew they needed.
This is the question of our time.
$225 billion in medical debt.
That's more than the GDP of half of the U.S. states because people cannot afford the basic things.
Let's finally fulfill that promise and guarantee every single person the health care they need and deserve.
Medicare for All does that.
For our next question, I'm going to call upon Bob Smith from Local 167.
Affordability is a huge concern for all Americans.
Affordability is a huge concern for all Americans, and yet prices have not come down in any meaningful way over the last several years.
It's time for real wage increases for American workers.
Will you support and actively pursue a meaningful increase to the minimum wage?
And what do you consider an appropriate minimum wage?
This begins with Mallory.
Thank you for the question.
Invest in Michigan Jobs 00:15:40
An appropriate minimum wage is a living wage.
That as the price of everything goes up, the only thing that has not gone up is your wages.
The average age for a new homebuyer is in their 40s now.
I talk to constituents who are at their wits' end trying to provide for their kids when they can't afford their basic needs.
Now, in Michigan, we've led on this.
We passed a $15 minimum wage and importantly, we pegged it to inflation.
We need to do that on the federal level so we are not having the same conversation in 40 or 50 years where wages are depressed.
And Michigan became the first state in almost 60 years to repeal so-called right to work.
Because what we know is that when workers organize, it's not just members of unions who benefit.
It's all workers.
And we need to pass the PRO Act on the federal level to do exactly that.
Abdul.
My first job, I got paid $4.25 an hour.
I was 14 years old, and thankfully, I didn't have to worry about trying to feed a family on that.
That's why, fast forward, a decade later, I sat with my union sisters and brothers at the SEIU at a Fight for 15 rally.
I put my body on the line and took an arrest.
And I didn't take the politicians' arrest where they like turn around and drop you off.
No, I took the whole arrest.
Then my time.
As the only person on this stage to hold a union card, second generation union member, I understand that the work we do isn't just about showing up and bargaining for ourselves.
It is about moving legislation so that we show up for everybody.
And that is what I intend to do.
Now, look, as the only person on the stage who's never taken a dime of corporate money, I also got to call out the system that's stopping us from doing that.
Too often, politicians get bought off by those corporations so that they tell you they're going to do a certain thing, and then it never really quite happens.
There's always something else they got to do.
So, when I get up there, I promise you, my day one goal will be to stand up to them and fight for you.
What is Donald Trump doing to lower costs?
Nothing.
He is making this problem worse.
First, he's got these erratic shoot-by-the-hip tariffs that are attacks not only on our consumers, but they're attacks on all of you.
We're getting new jobs into Michigan.
It's because of the UAW, not because of Donald Trump.
And I'm going to tell you what, as someone who has sat at the lawmaking table and fought for the PRO Act, I'm ready to hit the ground running to get that done.
I have got a bill to lower costs for groceries, no tariffs on groceries act, and I believe in a fair minimum wage.
That is what organized labor supports.
When we have a PRO Act, when people can organize, we've got a growing middle class.
That's what we need in the halls of the Senate.
We need a proven fighter who can get this done for you, and that's me.
Thank you.
Next, we're going to hear from Tyrisha LaFlora from Local 7.
Hello, everyone.
Tyrisha LaFlora, Region 1, Local 7.
My question will be: What policies do you support to protect women workers who often carry caregiving responsibilities, especially when it comes to scheduling, overtime, and mandatory shifts?
Speaking of Abdul.
First of all, I got to say I love your beret.
Look, at the end of the day, I'm the only person who's been on both sides of a bargaining table as a second-generation union member, but also somebody who bargained with unions represented in my workplace when I was Detroit's health director.
We listened to understand exactly what the challenges folks faced were.
And we understand that in the contracts we built, we had to be able to secure a workplace environment, but also work schedules that folks could adjust around.
I got two kids, three-year-old and eight-year-old.
And I understand exactly what the burden of this has been on my wife.
But the other side of that is this: we pay $2,000 a month in child care.
And guess what?
Nobody should have to pay for child care in the richest, most powerful country in the world.
So, one of the most important things we can do is just guarantee child care for everyone while making sure that management has to give their workers schedules that they can predict and that they can bank on.
Appreciate your question.
Too often, we have seen unfair labor practices.
And again, a shout out to our organized labor movement and your director, LaShawn English, who's someone I've spent a lot of time with on these issues, which is why I'm fighting for paid leave and I'm on legislation to get that done.
It's also why I led in the Congress as part of the debate, the conversation to have pregnant women and nursing women get their paid time off and to have proper nursing stations.
Look, we need people who understand these issues and who've also gotten something done.
We can do this by achieving a bipartisan approach, effective approach, fine, but we have got to elevate your voice and fight for this in the halls of the Senate.
Mellie lived experience really matters.
My mom was a caregiver of her mom who had MS while she was also caring for four kids.
I call her every week and I say, I have no idea how the hell you did it.
I'm also the mom of a five-year-old.
I was nine months pregnant in the Senate.
And when I gave birth, I got a phone call from a lobbyist the next day who said, I know she's on leave, but it's really important that she meets with my client.
I was still bleeding.
I was still healing.
The fact that the United States of America is the only industrialized nation in the entire world without guaranteed paid leave is an embarrassment.
We need to pass that across the country.
We need to make sure that part of union contracts and negotiating is schedules.
We wonder why our birth rate has stagnated.
We've made it impossible for women to go to work to support their families.
It is no wonder the workday ends when your workday ends.
The school day ends at 1.30 or 2.
Time.
How the hell are you going to make that happen?
Our next question is from Pedro Ribe from Local 6645.
Thank you all for coming.
Workers today are facing unprecedented attacks from corporations and a fascist administration.
We're being forced to foot the bill while the rich get tax breaks and the president would turn us against our own union brothers and sisters simply because of the color of our skin.
How will you stand with our union, your constituents, against these threats?
This one starts with Haley.
We're seeing this play out in real time.
We have a president doing another billion-air deal with the Gordie-Howe Bridge, trying to shut it down, trying to squeeze out manufacturing jobs.
Look, Pruce in the pudding here.
We've lost 100,000 manufacturing jobs since Donald Trump took office.
We see these erratic terrorists coming down, creating job insecurity.
We've got some of the fastest growing unemployment in the country.
And we need someone who's not afraid to go to a plant that's about to close down like I did in Romeo, making a video calling it out.
We need somebody who's getting results for organized labor and for the UAW and for your jobs.
We need somebody who's going to push back on these backward policies of Donald Trump offering real solutions to lessen our dependence on China, strengthen our supply chain, lower costs, and create more jobs.
Mallory.
Income inequality is the worst that it's ever been.
We tried trickle-down economics for 50 years.
You know what?
Doesn't work.
The rich are getting richer.
We have Elon Musk who wants to be a trillionaire.
The budget for the state of Michigan, where I serve on the Appropriations Committee, that's $80 billion every year for a state of 10 million people for all of our schools, for all of our infrastructure, for all of our roads.
That's why I am so passionate about the No Reverse Robin Hood Act.
Too often, you are the ones making sacrifices.
You are the ones giving your hard-earned dollars to companies who promise to reinvest in our state.
And instead, what do they do?
They turn around and conduct billions of dollars worth of stock buybacks.
And then they lay people off.
This happened in Michigan.
GM asked for $250 million to help tear down part of the Renaissance Center right after they conducted a $6 billion stock buyback and laid 1,000 workers off.
We have to say no more.
Brother, you asked a very particular question.
I want to make sure you get your question answered.
Donald Trump came down that hideous escalator and he said something that was able to defy all of us against each other.
Say, if you're out of a job, an immigrant took your job.
Out of health care, immigrants took your healthcare.
Out of a home, immigrants took you home.
We've got a better narrative.
If you're out of a job, a corporation offshore automated your job.
If you're out of health care, a corporation figured out how to squeeze you out of health care.
If you're out of a home, a corporation figured out how to speculate on your home.
We've got an opportunity to win the future by reminding people what is really taking away their rights.
And that is the way that corporate power has been able to buy and sell politicians to do their bidding.
$185 billion for ICE meant to weaponize our government against us under the presupposition of immigration.
We all know that's bullshit.
What could we do with $185 billion?
So rather than funding that, I would rather stand up to corporations, make sure they pay their fair share, tax billionaires their wealth, and then invest in the health care and invest in the housing that we all need and deserve.
All right, for our next question, we're going to go to Mervyn White from Local 1700.
Good morning.
So my question to the Forum is: what specific actions will you take as U.S. Senator to protect union manufacturing jobs in Michigan and prevent companies from outsourcing or moving production overseas?
This starts with Mallory.
Thank you.
I'm the only one on this stage who came out of the auto industry.
My dreams, like so many of us, were dashed.
And I will never forget: I drove into an event at Region 1 with my Chevy Bolts and shook hands with a guy who checked me in who said, I built this car.
And this is the first one that I've seen in the wild.
It was so exciting.
Now, in Michigan, we are the home of the auto industry.
We have to expand every single manufacturing job and expand into what's next.
How do we do that?
By investing in you, by investing in education, healthcare, workforce development, so that companies are clamoring to locate in Michigan.
We have to stop giving companies billions of dollars in tax incentives, trying to bribe them to stay in the state, only to see them turn around and leave to go somewhere else that is investing in their workforce and their people.
You are the most powerful tool we have at growing our manufacturing base.
Auto built the home I grew up in.
Both my parents are automotive engineers.
I remember my dad coming home in 96 from the GM Tech Center saying, I just watched a bunch of the engineers get laid off.
Any company that invests more in financial instruments to do things like stock buybacks than its engineering and its workforce, that's not going to be an auto company for very long.
2008 rolls by and we watch GM have to take a bailout because of exactly that.
And guess what these corporations are doing?
We talked about banning stock buybacks.
I don't think it should be conditional on whether or not you got a tax incentive because I actually think those tax incentives are bunk.
I think we should ban stock buybacks outright.
But beyond this is another point.
NAFTA has been a cancer on the American automotive and manufacturing industry.
And let's be clear: USMCA, USMCA hasn't been much better, right?
You might as well call it the U.S. Manufacturing Cuts Act because that's exactly what it did.
So I think we've got to invest in industry here.
This is the best place to build and design cars and so much else.
And I want to take a bet on those folks, but we've got to stop the corporations from selling off our future.
Friend, I want to tell you what I am doing, not what I would do.
Ban Chinese Cars Act, legislation that I've written.
Strengthen those trade rules so those cars don't come in here and squash your jobs and our plants through unfair trade practices.
Two, we have got to strengthen what is going on with labor and our vehicles.
I have written a bill called Make Congress Drive Union because somehow they're renting cars or excuse me, buying cars or leasing cars and they don't have to report as their union.
Those are your federal tax dollars.
Put the money where the workers are, where the jobs are, and in Michigan.
For our next question, we're going to go to Gary Grant from Local 7.
Got you.
Good morning.
Beyond public statements, what concrete legislation actions will you take in the next session to ensure working class Americans, particularly in non-union and marginalized industries, can organize without fear, intimidation, or job loss?
This begins with Abdul.
The first and most obvious is that we got to pass the PRO Act.
And the second, though, is something that you all have been doing for a very long time.
I joined the UAW briefly as a member of the National Writers Union, the National Writers' Union.
This union has been organizing folks in non-traditional union sectors.
As a physician, I could tell you our health care would be so much better if doctors decided to unionize.
So we've also got to promote a culture of unionization.
That means empowering our unions to start organizing in non-traditional sectors where folks don't think about unions as an opportunity to secure themselves the kind of livelihood that you all understand a union is about.
And so as we do that, protecting those kinds of opportunities, standing alongside union members, I've marched at four different union protests, mostly alongside nurses, people who helped train me in medicine, and making sure that they get our support, they get our solidarity.
Promoting Unionization Culture 00:15:11
that's going to be critical.
The PRO Act is something I have sponsored and fought for on the Education and Labor Committee.
I mentioned my No Chinese Cars Act, and I've mentioned my Make Congress Drive Union Act.
These are Stevens bills.
I've been recognized as the most effective Democrat in the Congress.
I am ready to head to the Senate on your behalf and hit the ground running.
I also have another nice bill that I wrote because of Oshkosh.
Yeah, because they gave you guys that federal contract and then they were going to ship the jobs to a non-union place.
So I wrote a bill to close that loophole.
We need somebody who's got the experience, the track record of showing up alongside you on picket lines in union halls and in factories, writing the bills to beat the moment and getting it done.
Look, I fundamentally believe that past behavior is an indicator of future performance.
It's not just rhetoric, it's results.
In Michigan, again, we did what a lot of corporations thought wasn't possible and became the first state in almost 60 years to repeal right to work.
But we did more.
We undid what Rick Snyder put in place to prohibit in-home caregivers from organizing.
We passed a law allowing in-home caregivers to organize an SEIU celebrated in-home caregivers joining a union, celebrating being able to fight for living wages that they deserve.
You, anybody who is a caregiver, is doing the most important work of anybody in our country, caring for our loved ones and too often getting the shaft.
We have to go into non-traditional workplaces.
We have to organize.
We have to stand together.
I've done it in Michigan, and I will continue to do it for everybody as your next U.S. Senator.
Thank you.
We have two more questions from members in the audience.
Next, I'm going to go to JJ Jewell from local 228.
Good morning, everyone, besides Mike.
My question: I really would appreciate if we do specifics, policy and not platitudes on this one.
What do you see as necessary legislation to regulate AI, artificial intelligence, especially to protect union jobs and to prevent loss overall in the job market, especially manufacturing?
This begins with Haley.
These are bills that not only I have sponsored, but I have helped write.
AI has been a burgeoning problem, and it's now upon us.
I believe that your jobs are going to be at the forefront of any technology and innovation agenda.
They have got to be union jobs.
So the bills that I have written and passed are around privacy and protection.
I did a bill on deep fakes so that they could be early identified.
I've passed three terms now, a bill on privacy-enhancing technologies.
And look, I voted for something that says, hey, if the jobs are going away for AI, then we got to pull the horn and stop this.
We're doing this on the Education and Labor Committee.
We need someone who's serious.
I've mentioned that I've been recognized as one of the more effective members of Congress.
I also got that on science and tech issues alongside our 21st century labor movement.
Mallory.
You're going to hear me talk a lot about Michigan because I'm really proud of a lot of the work that we've done.
In Michigan, we created a first-in-the-country Office of Worker Transition.
Now, that was an office we created when we passed our clean energy legislation, knowing that as we transitioned into more clean energy, a lot of the companies installing these projects were non-union.
And we created this office to make sure more companies brought union labor to the table.
We need to replicate that on the federal level because AI touches everything.
And I'm not just hearing it in manufacturing.
I'm not just hearing it from you all.
I'm hearing it from young people who are terrified as I get across the state that there will no longer be entry-level jobs for them to start their career, whether you're blue-collar, whether you're white-collar, whether you don't know what you're going to do yet.
So we need to start there.
Every policy decision about AI, because it touches every industry, needs to be with union labor at the table, helping to write and introduce and pass that policy.
60 seconds, big topic.
Ready to go?
Big risks, data centers.
We've got to make sure that they're not raising our electricity rates and they're not harming our water.
Two, when it comes to the job losses, we've got to make sure that we pass things like a 32-hour work week and we've got to tax any sort of increases in capital so that it makes it cost-prohibitive to try and undo jobs with AI.
Three, we've got to put guardrails on the ways that AI is being developed to make sure that the incentives are not around developing the things that would cause risk or take jobs and more around the things that would create scientific breakthroughs.
And finally, we've got to make sure that, I've got still 30 seconds, all right.
Finally, we've got to make sure that as this stuff develops, we are actually putting money out there to incentivize the best uses.
Because right now, I worry a lot about whether or not we are going to have a future.
But here's the thing: the biggest risk is that corporations, the richest, most powerful in the world, are driving this.
So if you take money from them, you're not going to regulate them.
So you need leadership that does not take their money.
All right, we have one final question before we get to closing statements.
For the last question, I'm going to go to Dan Rourke from Local 1596.
Thank you all for being here.
After the historic success of the stand-up strike in 2023, our President Sean Fan called on the rest of the labor movement to align their contracts for May Day, 2028, so we can strike together to demand an economy that works for workers, not for billionaires.
If elected, what would you do specifically to help build towards a general strike in 2028?
We begin with Mallory.
So number one, we've got to.
We begin with Mallory on this one, right?
Yeah.
We're just all really excited.
You all are leading.
First of all, I just want to thank you.
I want to thank President Fane.
I want to thank all of you watching the stand-up strike.
I joined workers on picket lines all across Michigan.
It was inspiring.
It was inspiring to see companies scrambling, trying to figure out what was next.
I was just out of picket line with nurses at Henry Feral Genesis who have been striking for now more than 160 days.
It hasn't been above 30 degrees in Michigan in more than three weeks.
So it requires having your next U.S. Senator who is going to show up, who is going to use their bully pulpit to help encourage everybody to follow your lead, to be supporting contract negotiations, and being your voice in the Senate.
I remember taking my little girl to the stand-up strike.
And she asked me, Bubba, what are we doing?
Why are we going here?
I was like, well, because these people are standing up for their basic rights and they're standing up for us.
And she asked me, what would happen if they didn't?
I told her that your future, the ability you have to work a good job, to be able to provide for your family, that's what they're standing up for.
And that's what you need to understand.
So look, I'm going to be one out of 100 senators.
And what we have is a bully pulpit to stand up and step out.
And where we go and what we talk about and how we talk about it makes the difference.
I wish I could tell you by that 2028, we're going to have a president who'd get us to the PRO Act.
We won't.
But we can make sure that any nominee who wants to come out of Michigan with the senator's endorsement is going to stand up and guarantee that on day one, they are going to sign PRO Act legislation.
And we can go out there across the country working in non-unonized sectors to empower folks.
So the right to organize is sacred, sanct, and as is the right to strike.
And I firmly believe that when you're striking, you need to have elected officials who have your back.
They need to be labor-led with your elected officials standing right alongside you, showing up.
I feel right at home at Region 1.
I felt right at home greeting UAW members on picket lines during that historic strike of 23.
That was a thing of beauty.
It had never happened before.
And what you all armed us with, you know, alongside watching Fane work his magic, remember he was round the clock doing all those interviews.
You guys were showing up.
We were bringing light to the tiered wage system and getting rid of that and standing up for the earned benefits.
You know, I'm going to be right there with you guys, just like I have always been.
All right.
Thank you to all the UAW members who submitted questions.
They're sharp, and they're exactly the type of questions that we need to make sure we are asking of the people who want to represent us.
So, thank you all for that.
We are going to give each of the candidates time for a 90-second closing statement, and we're going to begin with Abdul.
First of all, thank you so much for all your time, all your energy, and all your work on the ground leading the union movement across Michigan and across this country.
I'm not supposed to run for office.
I know my name is Abdul El Sayed.
But here's the thing about it: I am tired of waiting for people to answer the questions we've been asking for for years.
We cannot fight not to lose.
We have to fight to win.
People need and deserve a dignified wage.
They need and deserve a dignified workplace.
They need and deserve Medicare for all.
And I am done with politicians telling us what we cannot have and should not fight for, that we just got to wait a couple more years until the time is right.
When is the time going to be right?
And if you believe with me that the time is right right now, then maybe we got to think a little bit different about where our politics need to go.
I'm the only person on this stage right now who's carried a union card, whose fathers carried a union card.
I'm the only person on this stage who's never taken a dime of corporate money and will not do their bidding.
And I am the only person on this stage who understands that the work in front of us is about guaranteeing health care, guaranteeing union rights, guaranteeing that our government doesn't waste our money to try and violate our peaceful streets when it could be investing in our child care and our health care and our future.
This is about an opportunity to think different about the world we actually want to achieve.
So if you want to continue to do the same, I'm not your guy.
But if you want someone who's going to fight tooth and nail around the things that got me into medicine in the first place, maybe I am.
time.
Haley.
All right, guys.
My campaign is a love letter to Michigan.
This state that raised me where I was born.
And man, it's a love letter to all you.
I love this union.
I cherish the times that we have spent together.
You know, when I was working in the Obama administration on the U.S. auto rescue, taking those phone calls from back home, people who were scared about losing everything they had ever worked for.
You know, we remember those headlines.
They were writing Detroit off the map.
You showed them who we are.
You showed them what we're made of in Michigan.
You know, we couldn't have gotten that deal done to save our auto industry without our auto workers.
My line is always open to each and every single one of you.
I'm in this fight, and I'm in this fight not just to win, but to get real results, points on the scoreboard for you and your family and our future.
This race is about the future of Michigan.
We're not going to let Mike Rogers trample on our rights to organize.
We're not going to let Mike Rogers go along and clink his martini glass and pretend to be Donald Trump's best friend.
You're going to have someone in me who's in this fight with you and who's going to get some stuff done.
Thank you.
UAW, thank you so much for your leadership.
You deserve a U.S. senator who's going to lead alongside you, who is going to follow your lead.
We have our work cut out for us.
One of these guys couldn't even be bothered to show up today.
But what I know is that we do not have to settle.
You have three good choices on the stage.
We do not have to settle for somebody who prioritizes rhetoric over results, who's never held office, who's never delivered for you.
We don't have to settle for somebody who's too beholden to corporate interests to actually work alongside you.
Now, I want to show hands how many people in 2012 were at the Michigan Capitol when Rick Snyder passed right to work.
Show of hands.
Let's see it.
You were treated like criminals.
The Michigan government weaponized itself against working families, had batons, had pepper spray, had shields, kept you out of your own state capital.
When I became Senate Majority Whip, there were a lot of people who said there's no way Democrats will ever touch right to work.
Do you know what's one of the first things we did?
We repealed right to work and we invited all of you into your state capitol.
When we took that vote, I will never forget the thunderous applause in the gallery, in the rotunda.
That is what it sounds like.
That is what it feels like to take your state government back.
And together, we are going to go take our country back.
Let's do it, UAW.
Thank you very much.
Time.
All right.
I just want to thank all of you for the questions.
And I want to thank these candidates for coming up, for answering our questions, for showing up for us, that we notice who does and who does not.
So let's give one final round of applause and thank you to our candidates who joined us on stage.
Bridging the Divide 00:02:10
Sunday on C-SPAN's Q&A, former Washington Post correspondent Will Haygood, author of The War Within a War, talks about the experience of black American soldiers in Vietnam and the struggle for racial equality both in the war zone and back home in the United States.
He also reflects on growing up in Columbus, Ohio during that time, where he experienced this stark divide firsthand as a child.
And I found myself as a 14-year-old kid running from National Guard tanks during the riots.
I don't think it was until I really got deep into the research of this book that I realized that these two epical moments in American history, Vietnam and the draft and then riots, that I saw elements of both through my own eyes.
Author Will Haygood with his book, The War Within a War, Sunday night at 8 Eastern on C-SPAN's Q ⁇ A. You can listen to Q ⁇ A and all of our podcasts on our free C-SPAN Now app or wherever you get your podcasts.
On Tuesday, President Trump will deliver the annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, which will include an update on the economy, immigration enforcement, and other administration policies over the past year.
Our live coverage will start at 7 p.m. Eastern on the C-SPAN networks.
Best ideas and best practices can be found anywhere.
But we have to listen so we can govern better.
Democracy depends on heavy doses of civility.
You can fight and still be friendly.
Bridging the divide in American politics.
You know, you may not agree with a Democrat in everything, but you can find areas where you do agree.
He's a pretty likable guy as well.
Chris Coons and I are actually friends.
He votes wrong all the time, but we're actually friends.
A horrible secret that Scott and I have is that we actually respect each other.
We all don't hate each other.
You two actually kind of like each other.
These are the kinds of secrets we'd like to expose.
It's nice to be with a member who knows what they're talking about.
Les did agree to the civility, all right?
He owes my son $10 from a bed.
Bridging Political Divides 00:00:55
He has never paid for it.
Don't fork it over.
That's fighting words right now.
I'm glad I'm not in charge.
I'm thrilled to be on the show with him.
There are not shows like this, right?
Incentivizing that relationship.
Ceasefire, Friday nights on C-SPAN.
Democracy is always an unfinished creation.
Democracy is worth dying for.
Democracy belongs to us all.
We are here in the sanctuary of democracy.
Great responsibilities fall once again to the great democracies.
American democracy is bigger than any one person.
Freedom and democracy must be constantly guarded and protected.
We are still at our core a democracy.
This is also a massive victory for democracy and for freedom.
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